Ethnic and religious leaders are believed to have been largely instrumental to the success or failure of polio eradication campaign in various parts of northern Nigeria. To establish the validity of this credence, this study examined the extent to which polio eradication campaign resistance in northern Nigeria is associated with leadership and personal persuasions. Zaria Local Government Area, one of the high-risk (WPV- endemic) areas in northern Nigeria, where resistance to the global campaign on polio eradication is very high. Premised on Risk Perception Model, the survey sampled eight out of thirteen wards, representing approximately 62 per cent of the population of Zaria local Government Area, with response rate of 78.9 per cent. Findings show that leadership (ethnic and religious) persuasions were of little significance in the campaign acceptance or resistance. Rather, the risk of vaccine contamination and related health consequences, based on personal persuasions of husband/wife and friends/relations accounted for the resistance decisions of the individuals in the local communities. 

Key Words:  Risk Perception, Persuasion, Interpersonal, Polio, Campaign,

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 1, No. 1, April 2009, 95 – 107.

About the author

Yakubu Ozohu-Suleiman is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

Full Article

Words: 5,413

Pages: 13

To access full article, click on download.

Article Citation

Ozohu-Suleiman, Y. (2009): Interpersonal communication and risk perception determinants in the polio eradication campaign in Zaria, Northern Nigeria. Journal of Communication and Media Research 1(1): 95 – 107.